Kakaku：1457 saved$14.57
Kessinger Publishing, LLC
Usually ships in 24 hours 『In Two Volumes. This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.』 fetish『 The private character of Queen Elizabeth, 』
Frederick Carleton Chamberlin
IPhone 3G used's review (Not as interesting a topic as you'd think.) 『This book is about Queen Victoria's unusual relationship with her highland servant, John Brown. Most are familiar with the story because of the well-received movie, "Mrs. Brown". While the story made a very interesting movie, for most recreational readers the topic doesn't merit a full book. Raymond Lamont-Brown has certainly done excellent research, and I do not doubt that his account of Mr. Brown and his relationship with the queen is as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, oneof Queen Victoria's daughters drastically edited the Queen's personal papers when it came to the topic of Mr. Brown, so much of the historical record is irretrievably lost. Nevertheless, it seems clear that it is unlikely that there was a scandalous relationship and that the Queen simply considered Mr. Brown to be a completely devoted servant . She consequently kept him in constant attendance and was tolerant of his brusque manner. No matter how hard Mr. Lamont-Brown tries to find some actual drama, most of the relationship (and therefore most of the book) revoloved around the mundane routine of the royal household - daily ponyrides, picnics in the Scottish countryside, below-stairs jealousies, etc. Any excitement in the book is the result of speculation, not historical fact. If you have a serious interest in Queen Victoria, you will find this book worthwhile. Otherwise, see the movie.』
(A Devoted Servant) 『The release of the well-regarded film _Mrs. Brown_, about Queen Victoria and her gillie John Brown, indicated there was still interest in the story of the Queen and her devoted servant. The full story of their relationship will never be known, but in _John Brown: Queen Victoria's Highland Servant_ (Sutton Publishing), Raymond Lamont-Brown sifts through what can be known to give as good a picture as we are likely to get of the servant beloved by the Queen and detested by so many others. It is a small but successful study of the Queen as honest and loyal, with a love of the outdoors, and with a sense of humor (when will the opposite legend go away?) which Brown must have frequently tickled. They were a good match. He impressed both Albert and the Queen with his knowledge of game and hunting, and a strong friendship grew between the gillie and his Queen. He liked jokes and gossip, and the Queen liked to hear his stories. There are many illustrations here of their familiarity. When the royal family went out on jaunts, John Brown usually brewed the Queen's pot of tea. Early in his service, she remarked that this was "the best cup of tea I ever tasted." "Well, it should be, Ma'am," came Brown's reply. "I put a grand nip o' whisky in it."
There is little doubt that the Queen idealized Brown in a way no one else did, but especially after Albert's death, no one tended her as he did. A courtier wrote, "Others had tended her as their Queen and mistress. John Brown protected her as she was, a poor, broken-hearted bairn who wanted looking after and taking out of herself." Many around the Queen disapproved. Brown took his duties so seriously he would deny even her family access to her. His gruffness with others made few friends. Sent to convey the Queen's invitation to dinner to the Lords-in-Waiting, Brown pushed open the door of the billiard room, eyed the aristocrats, and bawled, "All what's here dines with the Queen." The Prince of Wales particularly disliked him, always referring to "that brute" rather than using his name. He obliterated all the busts and mementoes of Brown after the Queen's death, but he was never able to wipe out the rumors that Brown and the Queen were lovers, or that they had a morganatic marriage, or that Brown was her guide in spiritualism. Such evidence as there is shows that they were nothing but devoted friends as well and mistress and servant. This readable book well illustrates the relationship, with ample quotations from the Queen's diary and from remarks of those who knew both parties well.』
『For many of us, the first time we heard of the Scottish John Brown was when Billy Connolly starred opposite Judi Dench in the film "Mrs. Brown." Here for the first time is the real story of the extraordinary relationship between the Highland servant and Queen Victoria. Following the death of her husband HRH Prince Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria found solace in one man--John Brown. Their friendship rapidly became a source of rumor and scandal, yet, despite warnings from concerned ministers, the Queen kept Brown at her side. He was soon to become the most influential member of the Scottish Royal Household. What was their relationship? Were they ever married? These and many more questions are answered in Lamont-Browns's new book, JOHN BROWN.』
Kakaku：478 saved$4.78
Three Rivers Press
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (The Reluctant Queen) 『Wonderful read. Author was very inventive. Lots of information on Richard III the Duke of Gloucester. So many think of him as evil. Glad this book was more truthful about the 2 nephews and Richard's relationship with both brothers, George and King Edward.』
(Warning, Please) 『I bought this book in the Kindle edition and am profoundly grateful that I did not pay full price for this disaster.
To begin with, it is as studded with errors as a holiday ham is with cloves. One would think that a writer of historical fiction would do a minimum of research into the period of their story. Apparently that was more than Ms Plaidy was willing to do. Her disrespect for her readers is obvious and depressing. Not only are the commonly accepted events and timing of those events ignored but there is no hint of the ambience of the times. An appalling air of the present day hangs over the fifteenth century as depicted in this novel.
Ms Plaidy's Anne is a dreadful bore without a drop of blood in her. I cannot tell if this is due to the author's concept of the lady or to a lack of skill in the writing. I am inclined toward the latter since the prose is truly dreadful. Had the book not been contained in my Kindle, I am sure I would have thrown it across the room several times in the first forty pages sheerly because of my exasperation with the execrable writing. "The little Duke", indeed!
I do wish Amazon would flag the novels of the 'romance' genre. I expected this one to be a serious attempt to illuminate Richard's sad queen and not what it turned out to be. I suggest a yellow flag, like the one used to signal smallpox so that the unwary will be warned off such horrid fare.』
(Good historical read) 『This is the story of the wife of Richard III of England. Although he is often cast as a villain in history, in this book he is more tragic, misguided, but well intentioned than anything else. Anne and Richard fell in love as children, and due to a series of strange circumstances, are able to marry. However, when Richard unexpectedly comes into power, the happy life the couple built for themselves is thrown into disarray and they find that positions of power are perhaps not all they are cracked up to be.
Quote: "My thoughts were all for Richard and soem time later I was to hear the truth of all this from his lips. Then I learned how near he had come to failure; and had thigns gone against him at this time our lives might have turned otu to be entirely different."
This is a pretty good historical novel - even though the princes in the tower are only vaguely referenced toward the end of the work, enough evidence is presented throughout the narrative that the reader is presented with a large number of people who could be responsible for the deaths of the heirs to the English throne. Richard III is the last monarch from the house of York, and the events before and after his death lead to the famous Tudors coming into power, and many were working for this possibility. Overall I found it to be very balanced - Richard is neither a monster, nor a saint, just a basically decent guy who is altered by power.』
(But you should read it anyway) 『I've only heard of Richard III fleetingly. I've never read the play and I've only heard that he was defeated and he wasn't loved by the English people.
So coming into this book I was a bit interested to see the take on him. "Written" by his wife, Anne Neville, she sees Richard as a person who can do no wrong, until he is made Lord Protector, and then King of England. But she still gives him the benefit of the doubt and makes him seem as if he is just trying to do the best he can for the country he is trying to serve with traitors all about him; the people fairly uninterested in him.
Anne is....ok. A little boring. She tends to try and see the good in everyone, but when she doesn't like someone she doesn't really give them a chance. She highly dislikes George, Richard's and Edward's brother, the Duke of Clarence, and her sister's husband. Granted it's warranted because he did have her kidnapped and sent to live in a cookshop in Chepe. But she only meets Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Henry VI's and Margaret of Anjou's son fleetingly and bases her like, or rather dislike, on how he looks at her and a story. I don't remember her ever really talking to him at all. I do believe she was prejudice because he was of the House of Lancaster, and she, of the House of York, and she didn't want to marry him, but was being forced to because of the deal her father made with Margaret to restore Henry to power and eventually her son, Edward, would be King of England.
This book does explain the reasoning behind the War of the Roses. Between the Houses of York and Lancaster it was eventually won by the House of Lancaster through Henry Tudor(Henry VII.) But in the book the war has stopped with Edward IV. Anne's father, the Earl of Warwick, is the most powerful man in England and is known as the Kingmaker. Because he sets Edward up as King, he feels he can run the country through Edward, but that turns out to be a drastic mistake. Edward can think for himself and marries Elizabeth Woodville, a woman of no standing.
This creates a problem for the House of Neville. Because the queen is so prized in Edward's eyes he gives into her and she puts her people into positions of power. This doesn't work for Warwick and he ends up having to fight the king, and he eventually loses his life, which is devastating to Anne and her family.
But in the end she ends up marrying her love, Richard. They do start out living a relatively quiet life in the North, in Middleham where she eventually gives birth to a boy, Edward, who ends up being very weak, and dies after living about 11 years. This is a bit of a set up because Anne isn't very strong herself and this leads to her suspicions of Elizabeth's and Edwards's daughter Elizabeth and a supposed affair with her and her husband. Also her infertility plauges her, as well as a cough.
I wasn't too happy with the ending of the book. I felt like her time as queen was really very short(compared to the rest of the novel) and she didn't explain what it was like to be queen at all really. She spent most of it talking about her son and his eventual loss. I felt like more could have been spent on that account since this is a book about a Queen of England. I also felt like more attention could have been paid to the mystery of the two princes.
As to whether Richard usurped the throne or whether the boys were truly illegit we'll never know, but it does bring about a change in Richard that I didn't really like at all. Or he was truly more ambitious than we were lead to believe.』
(Noticeable errors in the Reviews alone make me wonder......) 『....if this is meant to be 'true' fiction. Why do I say that? Anne Neville was first 'betrothed' to Edward, Prince of Wales. Edward was the son of King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou, monarchs of England. He was also an *only* child! So how could Anne '...given her heart to the prince's younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.'?
After Edward's death, (he died without having children and Anne was his only wife) Anne was married to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (who later succeeded as Richard III). She had one son, a boy named Edward who created Prince of Wales by his father Richard III but died young.
Richard's older brother was Edward, Duke of York until he became King Edward IV. Edward IV and Richard III are of the House of York, Anne's first husband was the House of Lancaster.
If, as the Editorial Review indicates, there are such basic errors as this. (And yes, I fully realize the review may have been put in in error.) I would approach this book with that realization.
Doesn't mean that it isn't a good book, just that it has errors that would make someone who knows history cringe. Which is why I gave it only one star...
I haven't gotten to read it yet, (it's on my to-do stack), if the content is better than the review I will gladly up the rating, but right now? With such a basic, easily corrected error? It's staying at 1 star.』 『In 1470, a reluctant Lady Anne Neville is betrothed by her father, the politically ambitious Earl of Warwick, to Edward, Prince of Wales. A gentle yet fiercely intelligent woman, Anne has already given her heart to the prince’s younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Unable to oppose her father’s will, she finds herself in line for the throne of England—an obligation that she does not want. Yet fate intervenes when Edward is killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Anne suddenly finds herself free to marry the man she loves—and who loves her in return. The ceremony is held at Westminster Abbey, and the duke and duchess make a happy home at Middleham Castle, where both spent much of their childhood. Their life is idyllic, until the reigning king dies and a whirlwind of dynastic maneuvering leads to his children being declared illegitimate. Richard inherits the throne as King Richard III, and Anne is crowned queen consort, a destiny she thought she had successfully avoided. Her husband’s reign lasts two years, two months, and two days—and in that short time Anne witnesses the true toll that wearing the crown takes on Richard, the last king from the House of York.』
Kakaku：214 saved$2.14
Yale University Press
In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. IPhone 3G used's review (One of the Armada's Fab Four) 『Those of us raised on tales of the Armada, and the gallant defense of the English homeland, will immediately recognize Sir John Hawkins as one of the fabulous Four heroes who repelled the Spanish attacks (the other three being Howard, Drake and Frobisher). Less admirably, Hawkins is also notorious for his freebooting in the Carribean, wherein he sought to bust the Spanish monopoly on slave-trading. Like Sir Francis Drake, Hawkins was a master of staging a phony "raid" on local Spanish officials who were all too keen to buy the Englishman's wares - but needed to stage a token resistace to the interlopers in order to satisfy King Philip that the dreaded English had forced them to trade at gunpoint. Kelsey tells Hawkins's life story passably well, but the narrative is, for the most part, an unexciting one; for a character this infamous, one might have expected something more.』 『Although his cousin Sir Francis Drake is more famous, Sir John Hawkins (1532–1595) was a more successful seaman and played a pivotal role in the history of England and the emergence of the global slave trade. Born into a family of wealthy pirates, Hawkins became fascinated by tales of the riches of foreign lands. Early in his career he led an illegal expedition in which he captured three hundred slaves in Sierra Leone and transported them to the West Indies. There he traded them for pearls, hides, and sugar—thus giving birth to the British slave trade. His voyages were so lucrative that Queen Elizabeth herself sponsored subsequent missions.
Discouraged from his career as a pirate by a near-fatal encounter with angry Spanish troops, Hawkins spent much of his later life in England at the service of the queen. Although he committed treason, murder, and adultery at various points in his career, he was nonetheless knighted in 1588 for his role in defeating the Spanish Armada. In this riveting book, Harry Kelsey, biographer of Sir Francis Drake, tells the story of this extraordinary man.』
Kakaku：1995 saved$19.95
Everyman Chess
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (A good overview of the Albin, Baltic, and Chigorin defences) 『If you open a chess game with 1 d4 and answer 1...d5 with 2 c4 then you need to be prepared for three "unusual" Black replies, namely 2...e5 (the Albin), 2...Bf5 (the Baltic), and 2...Nc6 (the Chigorin). Perhaps you'll even want to try one of these defences yourself. This well written book can help you do both.
The Chigorin is the soundest of these three choices. White can try 3 cxd5, 3 Nc3, or 3 Nf3. I think the line that gives Black the most trouble is 3 cxd5 Qxd5 4 e3 e5 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Bd2 Bxc3 7 Bxc3 exd4 8 Ne2 Nf6 9 Nxd4 0-0 10 Nb5 Qg5 11 Nxc7. This book tells about it and gives some suggestions. But, sure, I'd rather have White here.
The Baltic isn't a good choice for Black. 3 cxd5 Bxb1 4 Qa4+ c6 5 Rxb1 is good for White. And even 3 cxd5 Bxb1 4 Rxb1 favors White. Black has to hope for 3 Qb3 e5 or 3 Nc3 e6, which, as this book shows, are not nearly as good choices for White.
Still, there is a line in the Baltic that is worth knowing if one plays the Slav, namely 3 Nf3. The reason is that White may try 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3. Now what? What happened to that Slav you were going to play? And is this your chance to get that Queen Bishop outside your pawn chain?
Yes. It is. You can play 2...Bf5 and if 3 c4 e6 4 Nc3 c6, with a favorable version of a Slav. Ward gives a couple of games to show how this can go, but one can see more in books on the Slav.
In the Albin, my suggestion for White, which the book does not entirely agree with, is 3 dxe5 d4 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 Nbd2 (the book recommends 5 g3) Bg4 6 a3. Here, Ward recommends 6...Nge7 for Black, but I still prefer White and so does he.
The Albin seems to me to be a bunch of traps. The most ridiculous is the following suicidal play by White: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 d4 4 e3? Bb4+ 5 Bd2 dxe3 6 Bxb4 exf2+ 7 Ke2 fxg1=N 8 Rxg1 Bg4+ 9 White resigns. But the author shows us some quick wins for Black in saner lines. One is 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 d4 4 e4 Nc6 5 f4 f6 6 exf6 Nxf6 7 Bd3 Bb4+ 8 Bd2 Ng4 9 Nf3 Ne3 10 Qe2 0-0 11 g3 Bg4 12 a3 Ne5 13 Bxb4 Nxf3+ 14 Kf2 Rxf4 15 gxf4 Qh4 mate.
You may protest that White ought to play an early a3 to avoid all this. But Ward also shows us the following: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 d4 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 a3 f6 6 exf6 Nxf6 7 g3 Bg4 8 Nbd2 a5 9 b3 Bc5 10 Bb2 0-0 11 Bg2 Qd7 12 0-0 Rae8 13 Re1 Bh3 14 b4 axb4 15 Nb3 b6 16 Nxc5 bxc5 17 axb4 Nxb4 18 Ra5 Bxg2 19 Kxg2 20 Ba3 Qh3+! (winning for Black).
Even in Ward's recommended line for White, namely 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 d4 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 g3, we see a couple of games where Black wins fast by pushing her h-pawn and getting her Queen Bishop to h3 (generally via e6 or f5).
I wouldn't want to play the Albin with Black, in spite of all these possibilities, but some of you might want to try it, or the Baltic or the Chigorin, for Black. And I do recommend this book to learn all these openings for White. 』
(Not too much, but highly enough.) 『Being a 1-d4 player, I have to be acquainted with unusual replies by Black. This book gave me enough theory and explanations to feel more confidence if confronted by these monsters! The frame of Everyman's Chess Publications (Cadogan) is efficient. A limited amount of selected games by the best players possible with a lot of explanations.』 『In the unusual Queen's Gambit, grandmaster Chris Ward covers three offbeat but nevertheless important defenses to this ancient opening. The Chigorin Defense (1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6) creates dynamic imbalance in the position. White often ends up with a big center but Black's active pieces can create havoc. The Albin Counter Gambit (1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5) is a tricky tactical line that can be deadly against an unprepared White player. The final variation (1 d4 d5 2 c4 Bf5) is an interesting way to try to solve immediately the age old problem of how to develop the queen's bishop in the Queen's Gambit Declined. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 160 pages, diagrams)』
大満足！北国のホタテ・いくら・ボタンエビがぎっしり！
